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Steve Harvey's new talk show was a long time in the making, even if he didn't know it before.

"It was something I've always dreamed of doing," the veteran comedian told Savannah Guthrie on the "Today" show Wednesday — not that he realized daytime would prove his niche.

"I thought it was nighttime TV a while back. But my life changed, and I evolved as a person. And so daytime — with the empowerment angles I've taken in my book for women and everything — just seemed like a pretty natural fit," he explained.

That long personal evolution involved penning the 2009 bestseller "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man," later given the Hollywood treatment. He told the New York Post last week that after that success unexpectedly launched him into the general market, he started to rethink his nighttime aspirations.

His new syndicated daytime show, which will focus on ordinary people's relationships and air on this NBC station, emerged from that and from his background, he told "Today" on Wednesday.

"I've had an interesting life. My life has been full circle," he said. "You know, I've been a parent, a husband, unemployed, homeless, successful."

He said he has another thing going for him, too: "I smile harder than anybody on TV, and I'm funnier."

Harvey stressed that his one-hour show would focus on the relationship travails of ordinary people, not celebrities, because he wants viewers to relate to them.

"I want to talk to everyday people. They're the most interesting people. Plus, they show up," he joked. "And you don't have to put pink M&Ms in their dressing rooms and black roses and stuff."
"Steve Harvey" premieres Sept. 4 on this local NBC owned television station. Check your local listings for times.